New Landscape Makes a Yard Feel New Again

Whether you're in an area experiencing drought or not, conserving water in your landscaping is always a good idea. For most homes or businesses using municipal water, using less water means paying less money. And beyond the direct effect on your pocketbook, the more water everyone uses, the more money and energy towns and cities have to spend on pumping and treating water.

Additionally, overwatering your landscaping can have a negative effect on the health of your plants. You might notice that you're also having to fertilize grass or plants more often; the water draining through the soil is carrying away the soil's nutrients at an accelerated speed. And very wet soil is also an attractive environment for various fungi, which can leads to fungal diseases sickening or even killing some of your plants.

Zone Watering: How More Sprinklers Can Mean Less Water

If you're watering a uniform lawn of nothing but grass, every part of your lawn wants the same amount of water. But not very much landscaping is actually this simple. Different plants like different amounts of water, so if you've got areas with shrubs or where flowers have been planted, you've got different watering zones in your landscaping – zone watering means taking into account how much water is needed in different areas.

In addition to different kinds of plants, the amount of sun and shade in an area also affects how much water it needs. Even a plain grass lawn, if it's surrounding a building, will have areas that experience sun for most of the day and others that are shaded for parts of it by the building. The more time an area spends in the sun, the more quickly the soil dries out. Mulch, on the other hand, helps hold in moisture, so any mulched areas need less watering.

By setting up separate sprinklers for different areas in your landscaping, you can use less water in areas that don't need it. You can get very specific with your zones if you want, but don't underestimate the usefulness of even simple divisions like using separate sprinklers for a lawn and a mulched flowerbed.

Automated Watering: How Timers Can Reduce Wasted Water

Since sunlight dries out the top of the soil, you don't want to water in the middle of the day. And watering in the evening or at night is also not ideal; you will end up with water sitting on the leaves of plants for a long time, which increases their risk of disease. Instead, the best time to water is in the early morning – the water will have time to be drawn down into the soil, but the plants themselves will be dried out in a few hours by the sun.

Automating your sprinklers with a timer means you can always water at the ideal time of day rather than fitting it into your schedule. You don't have to worry about getting up early each day to turn on your sprinklers, and you also don't waste as much water as you would watering them after work. If you're looking for a place to buy a sprinkler system, visit Steeplechase.